John Thornton
>Bush mentioned "hard work" *eleven times* and said "working hard" twice
>and "how hard it is" thrice in the first debate. (He also spoke of "the
>hardest decision a president makes" and "the hardest part of the
>job.") Pundits duly took note of Bush's self-defeating repetition which
>served to call the audience's attention to the strain of the occupation of
>Iraq, spinning it for Kerry's advantage.
>
><blockquote>Transcript of presidential debate
>By REGISTER WIRE SERVICES
>September 30, 2004
>
>. . . BUSH: . . . In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's *hard
>work*. It's incredibly hard. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . There's a lot of good people *working hard*. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . There's a lot of really good people *working hard* to do
>so. It's *hard work*. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . And it's *hard work*. I understand *how hard it is*. I get the
>casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens *how hard it is*. . .
>. The plan says we'll train Iraqi soldiers so they can do the *hard work*,
>and we are. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . It is *hard work*. It is *hard work* to go from a tyranny to a
>democracy. It's *hard work* to go from a place where people get their
>hands cut off, or executed, to a place where people are free. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . You know, it's *hard work* to try to love her [Missy Johnson,
>of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose husband PJ got killed in Iraq] as best
>as I can, knowing full well that the decision I made caused her loved one
>to be in harm's way. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . It's *hard work*. Everybody knows it's *hard work*. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . I understand *how hard it is* to commit troops. . . .
>
>BUSH: . . . We've done a lot of *hard work* together over the last three
>and a half years. . . .
>--
>Yoshie